Page 64 of Call the Shots (For The Arena #1)
BEAR
THE TEAM OF LOW BARS
I said I’d tell the team about the new coach and June gave me a tender hug before I left—which was a first after having sex. Mind whirling, I left the dorm, still covered in flour, with PROPERTY OF JUNE BASIL on my face.
“He fucking did it!” Elijah yelled from the lounge and a guitar riff belted from his speaker. The rest of the team groaned, pulling out their wallets, counting bills on the mattresses, throwing crumpled twenties at Elijah.
“What is this?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“It’s called making money.” Elijah grinned, crossing something off in a notebook. “I knew you could do it, Moosefucker. Never doubted you for a second.”
“That wasn’t your original vote, you changed it!” Laki snapped.
“Doesn’t matter, I’m on the winning side. Me, Sully, and Kid’s Toy.”
Sully shrugged. “Never been happier to fill out a paper wrong.”
“What’s that white stuff, Bear?” Montoya whispered, eyes wide. “Is that cocaine?”
“That’s flour, Kid’s Toy,” at least five teammates corrected.
Pickles paused. “Why’d she dip you in flour?”
I ignored the question and checked over Elijah’s shoulder.
The top of the paper read, BEAR GETS TO SECOND BASE WITH JUNE .
There were only three names in the affirmative, the rest were handwritten ‘no’s’ from everyone on the team.
The longer I stared, the more I couldn’t believe it.
“You dipshits placed money—what if Denali finds out about this?”
“He bet you wouldn’t do it, he’s number nine on the list.”
I ripped the notebook away from him. “That asshole.”
I debated between ripping the papers for a couple of seconds before I tossed it back to the table. Fuck it. Elijah did get me June in bed. I rolled my eyes but dapped him up while he smirked, patting my arm.
“Where’s Fridge?” I asked, scanning the mattresses.
“Our dorm,” Nick replied, eyes on his laptop. “Word of advice, knock loud.”
I abandoned the lounge and walloped my fist against Fridge’s door. “ Fridge! ”
Silence.
The goalie couldn’t ignore me. Eventually, he’d open the door, or I’d ruin his. I kept banging on the door until the sound of footsteps stopped me. It opened to reveal a peeved Fridge in a pair of shorts, a durag, and whipped cream smeared around his mouth.
“Bear, I’m busy?—”
“I need your help,” I interjected, shoving past him. Fridge started to argue but I closed the door. “I need June to fall in love with me. How do I do that?”
“I’m saying goodbye to Tallulah?—”
“June said we’ve only known each other for a couple of months, and we don’t have a real connection because of all the baggage.”
Fridge gave a heavy shrug. “Uh…okay.”
“Why’d you say ‘okay’ like that?”
“In May, you two hated each other. She might have a point.”
“Whose side are you on?”
“I’m not on anyone’s side, I’m pro-reality. How’s that?”
“You don’t get it. June could hit me with a hammer, lock me in a basement, and do some Misery psychological shit to me, I don’t care!”
“Tell me you didn’t say that to June.”
“What am I, an idiot?” I scoffed. “She would’ve moved out.”
“Yeah…this is a little obsessive.”
“I don’t care,” I said flatly. “I don’t care that I didn’t connect with her under sparkling fucking circumstances, that doesn’t change things.
” I raked a hand through my hair. “Back in North Dakota, we used to load up in someone’s truck, and I’d count the road signs on the drive, and I’d think ‘ this is it? ’ That was the question I couldn’t get over. This is it? ”
Tallulah crept out of Fridge’s bedroom in his shirt and rested against the door frame, but I couldn’t stop.
“June and I took Montoya out to practice driving. It was after we found out the Gladiators were getting disbanded. We were going two miles an hour, and June started counting down the road signs in these funny voices to make Montoya laugh because the kid was miserable, and I thought—oh— this is it. Not a miserable question—a statement. This. Is. It. She’s it. She’s it for me.”
“ Aww, ” Tallulah whispered.
“If I let her go because it isn’t perfect, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. I can’t do that. Even if it ends up tearing me to pieces, fuck it, I want that chance to find out. Are you going to help me or what?”
Tallulah hugged her shoulders. “Bear, that’s so?—”
“Unhealthy,” Fridge finished for her. “Bear, your last team fucked you over. This could be an unhealthy attachment for the person getting you through it.”
“I didn’t come here for a psychologist, I want to figure out how to make her fall in love with me—” I pointed at Tallulah. “I’d appreciate discretion.”
“I won’t say anything! I think it’s sweet.”
Fridge rubbed his eyes. “I can’t support this in good conscience, I’ll give you one more piece of advice and then we’re done. My therapist office is closed. Uh…because of the long distance?—”
“It won’t be long distance.”
“What? Why?”
“We have a new coach.”
Fridge stared. “We have a what? We’re not leaving?! We’re staying?! ”
“You won’t believe who they got. Anthony Sémajuste.”
“The Séma-automatic?” Fridge said in disbelief.
I caught Tallulah’s eye and explained. “Black hockey player from New York, used to be in the pros. He had a spine injury but came back to do his career-best after rehab?—”
“Why didn’t you say anything?!” Fridge snapped. “Did you tell everyone? In the lounge?!”
“I wanted to talk about June first?—”
Fridge hauled me out of the dorm. Everyone was still eating pancakes and counting money for the bet. The door to the stairs opened, Denali bounded in.
“Did you tell them?!” he shouted.
“We have a coach!” Fridge yelled.
Heads perked up, everyone swiveled to look. The air was still before the team shoved themselves up, almost knocking over the table with the breakfast remains.
“We have a coach?!” Nick demanded.
Denali cupped his hands around his mouth. “ Anthony Sémajuste! ”
“The Séma-automatic?!” a dozen different teammates said.
“SéMA-AUTOMATIC!” Denali roared. “WE GOT THE SéMA-AUTOMATIC!” He jerked over to look at me. “Did you write Property of June Basil on your fucking face? Jesus Christ.”
Everyone screamed, someone grabbed a bottle from their dorm to slosh drinks into paper cups, the team came unglued. Against all odds, the Gladiators weren’t down for the count after all.
“This is such a low bar!” Elijah laughed, grabbing his stomach. “I fucking love this team. We’re pumped to have a real fucking coach!”